


Symbiote Host Farming Simulator (Origins)

by Fishfootidentity



Series: Peaceful Circumstances [1]
Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Canon Divergent, Dora Skirth lives, Frina | Pinion, Gen, Out of Character, maria lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-26 13:27:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16682476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fishfootidentity/pseuds/Fishfootidentity
Summary: This work diverges from around Chapter 4 of Caged Bird. In this series, Carlton is slightly less violent in his approach, more patient about reaching his goals. When he and Riot find hosts for the symbiotes, the synchronised pairs will all be rounded up for further testing.This is only an early phase of what they have planned.





	1. Silver Instead of Lead

Drake instructed Dr Beliveau to retreat to the safehouse.

The girl, Frina, has not seen any cameras in the room. She took out an empty notebook, and a purple shadow formed on the current pages where her fingers are.

Drake smiled. She thinks the other employees cannot see. Well, they can’t, but he can.

“Secure the perimeter. Dollah, get your men into position at the office.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Special Branch team captain fell into step with Drake, relaying the orders, accompanying him to the top floor of Tower B.

“Come on la, macha. I just went outside to smoke. I need to go back in to work.”

Existech’s male receptionist is arguing with Dollah’s SB agents.

“Excuse me, sir,” Drake called out to the receptionist, “I think it’s best that you leave. It won’t be safe here for a while.”

The receptionist turned to face Drake.

“You’re Carlton Drake, right? The big boss himself,” the man spoke.

The policemen parted to let Drake walk to the warily advancing man.

“My name’s Jimmy. It’s such an honour to meet you, sir.”

He held out his hand and Drake shook it. As the skin of their palms touched, the receptionist’s dark brown eyes turned silver for just a second.

The operatives unholstered their sidearms and took aim at Jimmy, but by the time they did, the man in officewear slumped to the floor.

“Mr Drake, are you okay?” Dollah asked.

Drake closed his eyes. Something has made Carlton Drake its new home. Something intelligent and powerful.

‘Do you know who I am?’ the being that entered him asked.

‘Yes - I’ve been searching for you.’

Drake waited for the slithering feeling to leave his throat before opening his eyes again.

“The guy is not dead, is he?” Drake asked.

Dollah went to check the fallen man’s pulse.

“He’s alive, but it doesn’t look good,” the captain replied. “Sir, something passed through him into you. We should get you checked by a doctor -”

“I’m fine,” Drake said a little too harshly. “Call an ambulance to get this poor man to the hospital already.”

He wiped beads of sweat from his forehead. He knew that what entered him is the other missing symbiote. He’s aware of this side effect; he just hopes he can pass it off as a symptom of shock from seeing the receptionist fall sick while no one around is doing anything about it.

‘We’ve dwelled long enough here. Our real quarry is in the office.’

‘I understand… Riot.’

* * *

Frina burped. The sound was loud in the empty meeting room… not that there’s anyone around to hear her.

‘U nasty,’ Pinion told her.

She smiled. ‘Yeah, I know.’

Bored with the wait, Frina took out her tablet to read Audit lecture notes from. As much as she’d like to listen to some music, she didn’t want to appear unprofessional. No, it’s better to look like a total nerd.

She and Pinion bantered for a few more minutes; the host is not physically talking, but then it's not like someone can see her making little gestures in the air.

Then three short knocks sounded on the meeting room door.

“Oh, finally,” Frina muttered under her breath.

She stood up and smoothed down her thin workshirt, quickly turning to face the door.

When it opened, she could see a pair of non-local men dressed in black guarding the meeting room entrance. And the person who stepped in is someone Frina thought she would only see on screen, never in person.

Inside her, Pinion is crawling for safety.

Carlton Drake, head of the Life Foundation, closed the door behind him.

“Please sit down, Miss Frina. I believe we have much to discuss.”

He knew her name.

She complied after the man took his chair, opposite hers.

‘Welp, shit,’ Frina spoke Pinion’s sentiment within her.

Symbiote-fueled instincts are telling her to crash through the window and fly away, but she held them at bay.

‘Be brave, my little birb friend,’ Frina told Pinion.

‘Little? Where I come from, I’d be taller than you.’

Outwardly, Frina looked over her shoulder at the meeting room door, then back at Carlton Drake in front of her. Then over her shoulder, and back to the front again.

“This isn’t a real interview, is it?” Frina asked.

Drake smiled calmly. “What do you think?” he asked back.

“Aaauurgh.”

She sighed and slumped back against the high back of her meeting chair, eyes to the ceiling. One fist went up in a slow punching motion, pressed against the right side of her jaw, and soon her chin jerked back down, eyeing the leader of the Life Foundation.

“I should’ve seen this coming sooner or later. I mean, of course a guy like you would have the resources to track down a real-life cryptid.”

“You’re much more than a cryptid, Frina. You know that. We’ve been chosen for something special,” Drake replied.

Frina exhaled and shrugged. “Guess there’s no point hiding it now.” She stood up from her chair.

“So, d’you want to see her?”

Still seated in his own chair, Drake’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t know they had genders,” he remarked.

Frina belatedly realised why he was so amused.

“I didn’t mean - you know what I meant, damn it!”

“Of course,” he simply said; now his smile has him showing teeth.

Frina tried her best to keep herself from blushing; the man is watching her in the manner of a prepubescent boy who thinks a random woman on the internet is going to show him her boobs.

Too amused by Frina’s mental trajectory to be afraid of Riot now, Pinion emerged to cover her host’s arms and shoulders with pigeon wings. Her head poked up next to Frina’s.

“Ahoy,” Pinion greeted.

“Mr Drake, this is Pinion.”

Drake rose from his seat and made his way around the meeting table to stand near the human-symbiote pair.

Frina briefly waved up her wing-hands. “There you go. Together, we are birb. Woo.”

“You mean ‘coo’,” Pinion corrected.

Drake eyed them up and down, still examining them. Admiring them? Whatever.

“Look at you... You are magnificent.”

He reached out to touch one purple wing, but Frina stepped away and began to pace along one side of the room. In her freaking heels.

Pinion retracted the wings and formed herself into a yellow-vented bulbul sitting on Frina’s left shoulder.

“So let me get this straight: you found Pinion and me, and you tracked our movements, and now you’ve got us here.”

Frina stopped and looked at Drake.

“What happens now?”

Drake glanced at the meeting room door.

“Come with me to San Francisco, to the Life Foundation headquarters. My researchers will run whatever necessary tests on you and Pinion there, when the times arise.”

He looked Frina in the eye. “You’ve participated in clinical trials before, haven’t you?” he asked.

Frina blinked at him. “I’m sorry; you had me at ‘come to San Francisco’, and my brain just fizzled out.”

She began pacing along the clear-floored part of the room again. Pinion rubbed one side of her head against Frina’s cheek.

“This is such big news. I’ve always wanted to move out of the house - heck, out of this shitty country.”

She stopped. “But what the fuck do I tell my parents?”

Drake shrugged. “Will they have a problem with you leaving?”

“Didn’t your spies read my file? My mom has a problem with me staying out past 10PM. And when I talk about moving out, my dad will always remind me that I don’t have a job for me to pay rent and all the other costs of living on my own,” Frina complained.

Drake approached her slowly, going to stand near her, but not trying to touch her.

“I’m sure my company can handle small things like one person’s rent and living costs. Would you like me to talk to them?” he offered.

Frina looked up at him.

“If they still won’t let you go, I can send in some Special Branch agents to… ask them to change their minds.”

“Holy shit,” Frina said under her breath, grinning. “I hope it wouldn’t have to come to that.”

She looked out the window, and back at Drake. On her shoulder, Pinion chirped.

“Still, I think it _would_ help if you can talk to them. And the SB guys have transport, right?”

“They do.”

“Great, ’cause I’ve got a lot of shit I’m bringing with me.”

Drake smiled; it seems he has his answer.

Frina stepped away as if to pace again, but then Riot surfaced and grasped Frina’s arm with his and Drake’s combined hand.

“Stop doing that,” Riot said.

Pinion flitted to Frina’s other shoulder. Frina gave the silver symbiote a sour look.

“Please tell me you’re going to stay hidden when Mr Drake comes to my house to talk to my parents,” she said drily.

“Whatever it takes for you and Pinion to hurry up. We have work to do,” Riot growled at her.

When the silver symbiote retreated, Drake gave Frina an apologetic look and let her go. He glanced at the things she had brought with her: a small long-strap handbag and a backpack filled with books and stationery.

“Shall we?”

* * *

Frina went to the bathroom, then stopped to buy a frappe from a café near Plaza 33. Drake paid for the drink, demonstrating that he will uphold his end of their upcoming arrangement.

‘I could get used to this.’

‘So what, you’re going to be Carlton Drake’s sugar baby?’ Pinion asked.

Frina sighed. ‘Look, I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you earlier. But you know Drake, and this isn’t even the full extent of his resources. If I didn’t surrender us, he could’ve resorted to something more drastic.’

Inside her, Pinion quieted. Sadness and dread are at the forefront of the symbiote’s mind.

‘I’ll do my best to keep you safe, Pinion. You’ve trusted me so far; will you let me keep protecting you?’ Frina asked.

Pinion sobbed once.

‘When the time comes, I will protect you, too,’ the birb vowed.

The Special Branch agents trailed Frina and Drake as they exited the office area and followed Frina to her car (but not before Drake paid for the building’s visitor parking fee as well). The agents sat in the back; Drake claimed the front passenger seat.

It has been a few hours past noon, so the Federal Highway heading towards Shah Alam is not at peak traffic density. Still, even if Frina were to stay in the fast lane, the Special Branch’s unmarked van won’t have trouble following her hybrid red hatchback.

A few short conversations transpired during the roughly forty minutes of traffic commute. At the guardhouse to the gated community where Frina’s family lives, Frina wound down the rear window to let Dollah inform the guards that the van driving right behind them is on police business.

After badges and warrants are shown, Frina led the way to the end-road where she normally parks the car. There won’t be enough space at the porch of her house or the road in front of it. Meanwhile, the van will stay put until they are called to park in the porch, to haul Frina’s belongings in.

Frina switched off the engine of her red Jazz, unlocked the doors, and pulled the brake lock. She leaned back in her seat, breathing deeply.

“Nervous?” Drake asked.

Not looking at him, she exited the car and shut the door. She stared out at the lake separated from the terrace housing area by thin metal fences. In the late evening, all manner of fauna will bustle around the end-road lake. Egrets will glide or wade, magpie-robins will sing, and the occasional white-breasted waterhen or monitor lizard will run away from a human who is strangely curious enough to follow them.

“I’m going to miss this place. And my car.”

“You can always come back here to visit,” Drake said.

“I’ll think about it.”

Frina retrieved her backpack from the trunk, and once everyone is out and all the doors are shut, she locked her car and pocketed the keys.

She glanced over a shoulder to see where Drake, Dollah, and the other guy are. Being short, she always walks fast, with long strides. It didn’t matter if she was wearing higher-heeled shoes. Out in the open where human traffic doesn’t slow Frina down, Drake fought to keep up with her.

“Y’know, you don’t have to stand so close to me,” Frina told him, slowing down when her house is in sight.

Some dogs barked at the presence of strangers.

“Why not? You’ve brought boys to your house before, haven’t you?”

“One, and that was during Open House. My parents were civil when they met him, but they still didn’t like him.”

“Why? Was he too old for you?”

“No, he’s just two years older. He and I were in Monash University when we dated -” Frina stopped and turned to Drake. “Why am I even telling you all this? You’re a rich and successful businessman buying me off from my parents so that your lab geeks can run tests on me and my alien bird.”

Pinion surfaced on top of Frina’s head as a Eurasian tree sparrow.

“Don’t you see the parallels, though? He’s still gonna start caring for you when your parents are not around. And you’ll see to his needs -”

Frina scowled.

“- by making him more wealthy and influential than he currently is. Okay, seriously, can we go and see your younger bro’s reaction when he sees Carlton Drake at his doorstep?”

The host smiled wryly. Pinion sank back into her.

“Alright, that’s gonna be interesting.”

* * *

Frina rang the doorbell and pushed her glasses up. The household’s Indonesian housekeeper answered the door.

She spoke to Frina in Malay. Drake assumed she’s asking Frina who these people are.

Frina replied with a few short words, then she turned to Drake. “What d’you guys want? Tea, coffee, water, syrup?”

“Water’s fine.”

“A’ir,” Frina told the housekeeper, who soon left for the kitchen.

Drake took off his shoes, following the lead of the three Malaysians he arrived with.

Beyond the front door, the interior is clean; well-furnished, well-decorated, but superficial and lifeless. Frina switched on the living room air conditioner.

“Sit down and make yourselves comfortable,” Frina told the visitors.

‘You can do this,’ Pinion told Frina.

When the young woman went upstairs, her mother is already at the door to the master room.

“Frina, what’s going on? Why are there police at our house?” her mother Norma asked.

“Hey Mom. Remember the interview that I said was happening today?”

“Yeah?”

“It turns out I’m being recruited for a bigger post than that. We’ll explain everything downstairs.”

While waiting for her parents to get dressed, Frina went to her room to take off her work shirt and wear a comfy black T-shirt with Borneo as its print.

‘Ha-ha,’ Pinion pointed out the coincidence.

‘Right.’

Frina didn’t change into indoor trousers; it’s enough that her shirt chafes a lot less now. She resumed waiting at the top of the main stairs, and then led her parents to the lounge. There are glasses of water on the coffee table now.

Her father Keith is first alarmed by the officers in their police uniform, but then he saw the slender man in his distinctive black zip-up shirt and his gray blazer.

“Is that Carlton Drake?” Keith exclaimed loudly.

Norma stared from the men to Frina in shock.

Drake stood up. “Please, call me Carlton.” He walked from his seat to shake hands with Keith and Norma.

“We’re honoured that you’re here, sir, but - my daughter mentioned she was getting interviewed.”

“That’s correct. I wanted to recruit her personally.”

He gave the still-standing Frina a glance, and motioned for Keith and Norma to sit down.

“You’ll see why.”

With many eyes on her, Frina crossed her arms in front of her chest, then swung them down and out. Brilliant purple wings unfurled, and Pinion’s falcon head came up behind and over Frina’s head.

“So, one of the symbiotes that escaped from the Borneo crash came to the Peninsula and chose me as her host. Her name is Pinion,” Frina explained.

“Salam,” Pinion chirped.

The other Special Branch agent chuckled at this.

At that moment, the doorbell rang again.

Frina smiled; she has an idea. Pinion stayed on her as instructed.

They opened the door and greeted Colin, standing nonchalantly as Frina’s younger brother removes his shoes and eyes the cryptid in surprise.

“Hey bro.”

“What the hell?”

“This is Pinion.”

“Hello, Colin,” Pinion greeted.

“Wait ’til you see who’s in our living room.”

Frina closed the front door behind Colin.

“Carlton Drake?” Colin exclaimed, and turned back to face his sister, who nodded.

“Put down your stuff first, then we’ll all talk.”

While Colin rushed upstairs to his room, and later uses the bathroom to freshen up, a large ginger cat slinked from the dining room area, meowing to Frina at length.

“OC!” Frina greeted the cat.

Pinion withdrew from Frina’s left hand. Her host is crouching down to stroke the cat.

Carlton padded around the coffee table to watch Frina interact with the orange cat. OC was about to bite Frina’s hand, but when Carlton drew closer, OC fled to the kitchen at top speed, startling the housekeeper.

“OC ran,” Frina informed her parents.

“Oh, that’s normal. It takes a while for our cat to warm up to guests, like my friends, but he’ll stay when they become familiar to him,” Norma said. “But you’re not going to visit us frequently, right?”

Carlton did not answer.

Colin arrived back in the living room. Carlton motioned for him to sit on one side of the three-seater sofa; he himself is in the middle, his left arm placed over Frina’s shoulders.

Frina made a half-hearted attempt to brush the hand off, but Carlton maintained his hold. Colin still looked at the accomplished scientist with wonder.

“As Frina has beautifully demonstrated earlier, she has a symbiote living in her.”

“Symbiotes are aliens, right?” Colin asked.

“Does this mean Frina is sick?” Keith also wanted answers, glancing at his daughter with concern.

Carlton held up his right hand and spoke: “The symbiotes that my astronauts discovered are my responsibility. They can’t survive in our world without a host, so Pinion, for example, chose Frina. And believe me, these creatures don’t simply choose people at random; they have to achieve 100% symbiosis with their host.”

He paused and leaned back in the sofa, pulling Frina closer to him.

“That’s why it is now _her_ responsibility to come to San Francisco, so that my scientists can observe the symbiote-human interaction in greater detail.”

He eyed Keith. “You know my company, how vast its resources are. My employees and I will do everything we can to keep Frina and Pinion safe, and we’ll give them the best treatment we can.”

Carlton allowed the family to think this decision over.

“Are you sure about this, Frina?” Norma asked. “It doesn’t sound safe.”

“I’ll be fine, Mom. They’ll keep me in the labs and, I dunno, take my blood pressure every day, or write down how well I’m doing at the gym. They’ll even pay for my meds and therapy.” Frina glanced at Carlton. “Right?”

“Of course, my dear,” he answered, touching one side of his head to hers.

Colin looked at the prestigious man sitting next to him, and at his older sister, trying to believe what he is currently witnessing.

Frina looked at the magpie-robin bending down to stare her in the eye.

‘He’s really selling this whole dating and marriage schmuck,’ Frina exclaimed.

‘Whatever it takes to get you out, right?’ Pinion seemed more amused than she should be at how Carlton is behaving around her host.

“Rest assured, I do not intend to just steal Frina away from you. I’m willing to compensate you for her absence… say, US $2,000 for every month that she works for the Life Foundation?” Carlton offered. His corporate self is shining through.

“Wow! That’s a lot more than I can earn and save each month,” Frina interjected.

Carlton gave her a sidelong smirk. “The Life Foundation will cover all of Frina and Pinion’s living costs - plus, for every dollar that the research based on them generates, your household will earn 25% as a form of commission.”

Frina smiled. Keith and Norma gaped and stared at each other, overwhelmed by this generous proposition.

But Keith turned to the two on the farther end of the three-seater.

“This sounds like a great plan, but - is this what you really want, Frina?” he asked.

Linked to Frina by one near-invisible string, Pinion hopped down to Frina’s upturned palms and shapeshifted into a button quail.

“It’s not the job I thought I’ll end up doing. But I’ll be contributing to science, and I can work with the best bird in the universe.” Frina kissed Pinion’s head. “Plus, you heard Carlton. I’ll be completely safe at the Life Foundation.”

Pinion melted back into Frina’s skin. She stood up, and Carlton did as well, moving his arm to her waist.

“I’m gonna go up and pack my stuff. Oh, and I’ll need my passport later.”

“Okay. Just keep your room door open,” Norma told her daughter.

“Your mother keeps your passport?” Carlton asked Frina in an undertone.

She slipped away from him when she ascended the main stairs.

“Sure. She always buys the flight tickets, for annual family travels.”

He could hear that bitterness in her tone, one he heard back in the car, when she talked about her controlling mother. He decided to change the topic.

“And keeping your room door open?”

“You’re a grown man entering the room of my mother’s only daughter. Of course she doesn’t want any funny business happening in there.”

“Funny business, huh?” Carlton teased.

Frina made a frustrated gesture with her hands.

“Look - you can always do something else while I pack. Hey Colin,” she called to her brother, “why don’t you show Carlton here your archery skills? Maybe even take pictures with him.”

“Just don’t post them on social media,” Carlton said.

“Can I send it to our older bro in Melbourne?” Colin asked.

Carlton smiled. “Sure.”

“Steve is gonna be so jealous!” the reedy young man exclaimed.

“Oh, take a photo of me and Frina as well while you’re at it,” Carlton told him.

Frina resisted the temptation to pick up her flute case and swing it at Carlton’s head.

* * *

Keith and Norma are willing to part with a few older suitcases from the attic, knowing they can easily afford to buy new travelling bags eventually.

On that note, the good thing about having one’s life uprooted by a pharmaceutical conglomerate that can afford to send rockets into space is: those doing the uprooting arrived on a modified private jet. That will be the same jet that takes one from Malaysia to the USA without having to worry about baggage limits and inflight crowd noise.

Those old suitcases are going to contain Frina’s clothes, files, and printed books. There are several backpacks she can use to store write-in books and papers, stationeries, toiletries, and digital items. She will carry her handbag and flute on her person.

Meanwhile, the other good thing about having been spied upon by a powerful corporation is that the data analysts have already filled out and submitted Frina’s employment-based visa application prior to today. Apparently they even forged the necessary medical report, basing the details on all the information they managed to pull from her official and digital footprint.

As Frina packed for her move, the police officers went out to smoke or chat with fellow agents in the van that followed Frina’s car from Plaza 33. Carlton stepped outside at some point to make a phone call. About forty minutes later, a black Toyota Vellfire arrived in front of Frina’s house. That will be the vehicle that takes Carlton and Frina to the airport; transportation of luggage will be divided between the SUV and the van.

Carlton stood to one side to speak to Dollah about his contingent’s compensation for their help in tracking down Frina and helping to transport her and her belongings to the airport. He later watched as Frina and Colin hugged and wished each other well, as Frina hugs her parents, shakes hands with the housekeeper, and then tries (and fails) to hug the orange cat.

The roads from the suburbs to the airport are congested. While Dollah takes the passenger seat and another guy drives, Frina and Carlton sat in the middle row. Armrests separate the important persons from one another, but now that they’re out of sight of Frina’s family, Carlton makes no more special attempts to show Frina his affection. It’s just as well; both of the symbiote hosts are tired and sleepy from the day’s events.

Dr Beliveau greeted them when they arrive at the airport and part ways with the Special Branch officers. While Frina oversees the relocation of her possessions to her enclosure on the jet, Dr Beliveau pulled Carlton aside to speak with him.

There was a break-in at the Life Foundation headquarters, and the black symbiote has gone missing.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Carlton said to the young researcher.

‘Just as soon as I find Pinion and you, I lose one that I have at home. I am sorry, Riot.’

The silver symbiote did not respond to Carlton’s apology.

‘Black symbiote – that would be Venom. He is a mediocre soldier at best, not a very good scout, but he and Pinion have a sort of… connection, like Pinion’s human host and that scrawny boy at her house.’

So Pinion and Venom are rather like siblings. That is a point worth noting.


	2. Merciful Conviction

Being recruited by the Life Foundation for clinical trials initially meant Maria gets regular meals and showers a day, and a warm bed to rest in at night. But nothing prepared Maria for what the trials actually entail, when they call up her name.

The scientists locked her in a glass cage with a cylinder containing a mass of black goop.

“Open it.”

Once freed, the goop sought Maria out. She did not run to the edge of the enclosure – mostly because she was too horrified to make a move.

The black goop climbed up her legs and body with sticky slaps, then permeated through her clothes and seeped into – no, past her skin, into her insides.

Everything began feeling different for Maria. The lights of the research lab are too bright. Sweat is trickling down her forehead. Something is guiding her body, moving her legs to take her to the side of the enclosure where the observing scientists are gathered.

“ _Hungry_.”

The voice that rasped out of her throat is not completely hers. Something is alive inside her. She could feel hunger overwhelming her.

‘Oh God, what’s happening to me?’

Her fists pounded against the reinforced glass wall with strength she never had before. She is not feeling pain from the impact, but then again, she is not even in control of herself.

‘Stop it. Stop it!’

The pounding continued for a few more times, and the thing inside Maria listened. Through her eyes she could see the scientists in their stupid white lab coats talking to each other, acting like she’s not even a person.

“Do we have her vitals?”

“She is stabilising more quickly than the average subject.”

Maria gritted her teeth.

“Can one of you idiots get me some food in here?” she asked.

A scientist with glasses and a scarf got up from her seat.

“Don’t listen to them. We’ll stick to the feeding schedule,” a different scientist told her.

The scarf scientist complied. Maria could see some resistance, some fire in her eyes.

‘Conscience, from these people? That’s new,’ Maria thought, but did not speak the words aloud.

‘Maria.’

The thing that just entered her, the thing now living in her… it’s speaking to her. It knows her name.

‘You can talk,’ Maria exclaimed. ‘Holy shit, you can talk.’

‘I am Venom.’

‘What did you do to me?’ she asked, sitting down with her back against the glass wall.

‘Think of yourself as my ride. I am living in you.’

‘You’re controlling me?’

‘I want to keep us alive. If you die, I die.’

Maria hugged her knees to her chest.

‘What do I do now?’ she wondered, unsure if there’s any way to hide her thoughts from Venom.

‘You must eat,’ Venom told her.

She shook her head. ‘But they’re not letting me – they say they have a schedule.’

‘It won’t be enough. They have been starving every host they gave me, and now they’re starving you, too.’

Maria ran her fingers through her hair and pressed her forehead into the base of her palms.

‘I don’t want to die in here.’

* * *

The scientists only fed Maria some sort of bland broth three times a day. She has long given up on trying to tell them to give her some real food.

Venom is not such bad company, Maria found. Oddly enough, this non-human is the only one willing to talk to her as a person around here. Maybe the scarf scientist would, but her orders are keeping her from being a decent human being.

‘What is it like to live outside?’ Venom asked.

‘It’s rough, but at least I get to move around, do what I want… do what I can to survive. This is torture – not the part where I’m living with you, of course. It’s these damn scientists. They're not letting me do anything,’ Maria said.

‘Of course.’

The scientists kept the enclosure cold. While it’s good that Maria is no longer sweating or burning up, she feels she should be concerned about her fingers and toes growing numb after a while.

Not that there’s anyone around to adjust the thermostat, though. It’s hard for Maria to tell the time in here, but the corridors do get dark after some time.

She is tired of lying down on the cold, hard floor. She sat up, burying her face in her knees. Her fingertips sought warmth from her legs. She has had enough of these thin, cheaply-made clothes the scientists made her and all other subjects wear.

‘Someone is here,’ Venom alerted her.

Maria is sure that the symbiote living in her has changed her body in some way or another. With him, she becomes more attuned to her senses.

He is right about someone being here. Their hesitant steps hint that they don’t belong here and they know it. They stop in front of one enclosure, then another… then hers.

“Maria?”

She raised her head at the sound of the familiar voice. “Eddie?”

‘Who is Eddie?’

Maria rushed to the door of the enclosure. “Get me out of here!”

While Maria banged at one of the glass walls imprisoning her – and Eddie is desperately finding a way to break her out – she received a series of images from Venom. He communicated that way sometimes, but by God, this is _so_ not the right time for him to talk to her.

_Venom picking up a smaller symbiote, purple in colour. Trying to hold on to that symbiote, eventually separated by astronauts from the Life Foundation._

_When the rocket is crashing towards Earth, the purple symbiote pressed itself against the canister wall, trying to reach him somehow._

_“I’m sorry I couldn’t be the friend you need.”_

‘Friend.’

Eddie finally cracked the glass wall with a fire extinguisher. Maria only intended to move to him, but Venom is making her lunge at the man.

‘Venom, no!’

Maria fought to regain control of her body. The last thing she wants is to hurt Eddie when he was the one person getting her out of this rotten place.

‘I will leave you now, Maria. Good luck.’

* * *

Dora Skirth rushed down to the symbiote testing labs.

‘What the hell, Eddie,’ she thought with frustration.

There are security guards in the area with her, but they are not scientists. They can catalogue a missing symbiote, but they won’t bother doing anything about the subject that is dying on the floor.

“We need a medic. Send for a medic, right now,” Dora asked of one guard with a radio.

“She’s not an employee or a civilian,” he replied, as if that justified not giving the woman aid.

Dora resisted the urge to sock the guard in the face.

“She is the only subject who has temporarily hosted a symbiote. I think Mr Drake would rather take the opportunity to study the effects of post-symbiote inhabitation of someone who is still alive. There are plenty of dead subjects already,” she retorted.

“Fine.” The guard reached for his radio. “Get an EMT in the symbiote labs.”

While waiting for the paramedics to arrive, Dora tried her best to remember first aid procedures. “DR ABC”, was it? Danger is no longer here. Response – the subject is not reacting. Airway, breathing, circulation… thankfully the subject has a pulse and is breathing.

Dora got back to her feet when the medics are nearby. They loaded the subject on a stretcher and – Dora hoped – took her to the sick bay.

* * *

Lying on the pallet in her enclosure in the modified Life Foundation jet is a good way to remind Frina that she is not as much a guest as she is a… what, a retrieved asset? Well, at this rate, no amount of fulfilled special requests could make her forget that she has been bought for a price, and any figure of upkeep attributed to her is just maintenance expense.

Frina caught up with Dr Marsail Beliveau after the jet has departed from KLIA 2. The first meeting between her and Marsail may have been a farce, but the two of them can be friends from this point on. Naturally, the first thing Frina does is to interview Marsail in turn: ask them what it’s like to work at the Life Foundation headquarters in San Francisco, and talk about them as a person.

Soon Marsail had to attend to other matters, leaving Frina to her own devices: read books, play the flute, maybe even put on a new coat of purple nail polish. Pinion emerged every now and then just to alleviate both their boredoms.

8PM in Kuala Lumpur is 4AM in San Francisco, but Carlton still invited Frina to his private cabin to eat dinner with him. As she requested earlier in the evening, Carlton had someone buy her a classic triple-decker chicken sandwich from O’Briens back in the airport. Curiously enough, he seems to have ordered a vegetarian sandwich for his own dinner.

“Can’t I just take my sandvich and eat it in my room?” Frina asked.

He levelled her an insistent look. “It’s rare enough for me to have a sit-down meal. It’s even rarer that I enjoy a meal in good company,” he told her.

Frina decided to acquiesce and humour him. At least dining with her new “employer” is going to be different from dining with her family.

Pinion has been surfacing on and off, shifting into different shapes of birds from Frina’s memory. Later in Carlton’s private cabin, free from the prying eyes of the public as well as other Life Foundation employees, Riot also emerged. Unlike Pinion, however, he merely floated over Carlton’s shoulder as a red-veined silvery head with lots of teeth.

The purple peregrine falcon on Frina’s left shoulder shared some of her host’s sandwich, but too often glanced at her counterpart who has more of an interest in violence.

“How do you still have the appetite to eat in front of something so disgusting?” Pinion asked Frina.

“Practice, maybe? I could eat dinner while watching NBC _Hannibal_ ,” the small host said, taking an unabashed bite of her sandwich.

“Who are you calling disgusting, scout?” Riot demanded.

Pinion stared from Riot to Carlton while Frina continued eating.

“I said ‘something’, not ‘someone’. I could be referring to you and Drake – that is, if you two manage to be in perfect sync with one another, which I highly doubt.”

Riot growled, annoyed by the sassy purple bird.

Carlton finished chewing a bite and set his sandwich down.

“Pinion, you and Frina are going to be working with the finest scientists in the world at the Life Foundation, myself foremost among them. Don’t you think it would help for us to make it through at least one conversation pleasantly?” he asked.

“Who are you even referring to by ‘us’? Okay, if you mean you, Frina, and me, we’ll get along.”

Pinion extended her neck, beak pointed at the team leader.

“But Riot here? He’s up to some bad shit.”

She perched up straight again, wings folded across her chest in the manner of human arms.

“The main reason Frina and I are on board with the current move is that she’s always wanted to leave her home for a better life. We will work with you, but not him.”

“Is this true?” Carlton is addressing Frina this time.

Frina has finished almost half of her meal, but she doesn’t have the appetite to eat the rest. She will pack the bread stacks to eat at a later time. She took a sip of plain water.

“Despite what may sometimes happen, Pinion and I are, for the most part, of one mind. Like she said, we’ll work with you to earn a monthly paycheck. But if Riot is gonna make you use us in his quest to feed on this planet, we’ll be the biggest pains your asses will ever feel,” she replied in her soft voice.

Carlton stood from his seat. Riot began covering every inch of his host. The large symbiote leered at Pinion and Frina.

“This healthy host is wasted on you, Pinion. Even after you’ve achieved perfect symbiosis with her, all you do is fly around and run away from your duties,” Riot spoke.

Frina let Pinion take control of her body, also standing up. The purple symbiote covered her host and drew up to full height – in which her head barely reaches higher than Riot’s waist.

“Duties? Do you seriously think I’ll believe you when you say you’re doing this for the benefit of your fellow symbiotes? If it had been, you would’ve let the humans follow our ship to Klyntar in the first place. But then the other leaders would’ve taken the helm from there. No, Riot – this is all about your ego.”

Riot snarled, drawing his head closer to Pinion’s. “You think you know everything, don’t you?”

Pinion gave Frina more control; her host is quite capable of staying still and showing no fear.

“You won’t kill us – not while your host still needs us. Right, Carlton?” the small partners spoke as one.

Red-veined silver receded into Carlton’s physical form. The man watches as pale purple also recedes into a short woman wrapping up the other half of triple-decker sandwich.

“We won’t need to worry at this early stage. I’m confident you two will get used to Riot eventually,” Carlton said gently.

“Thanks for the dinner,” Frina told him. Pinion is nowhere to be seen, safe inside her host.

Carlton watched her leave his cabin, and soon calls for an attendant to clean up the table.

‘Pinion is a problem for another day. For now, we should focus on our missing symbiote – Venom, you called him,’ he said to Riot.

‘Yes. He might even be the key to getting Pinion on our side.’

Carlton has never been a complete optimist, so he could reasonably expect that Venom and Pinion might conspire together to work against Riot. The two are strong together, but they are outcasts after a fashion.

That is why it is important for the blue and yellow symbiotes to find their appropriate hosts as soon as possible.


	3. Settle In

Recently freshened up on the bathroom of the special Life Foundation jet, Frina is wearing a long-sleeved collared flannel shirt and a pair of jeans, as well as her Palladium boots. Pinion perches on her head as an American woodcock, making occasional “peent” noises when she finds people staring at her or Frina for too long.

After the jet has landed, an SUV, an armoured truck, and several escort cars drove the Life Foundation personnel and their prize (and stuff from the prize’s old life) to the loading bay of the headquarters.

Frina stepped out of the armoured car, surrounded by four guards armed with rifles. She would have carried some luggage by herself so as not to burden other workers in charge of moving her things to her new, more permanent enclosure. However, Carlton said she and Pinion are needed at the in-house medical examination quarters.

“Not the symbiote testing labs, sir?” a scientist with glasses and tied-up hair asked Carlton.

“Frina and Pinion are – quite different from the other subjects. We’ll have to arrange for an entirely new set of tests to be run on them,” he replied.

“Understood.”

Carlton left alongside a bald man wearing all-black.

Marsail clapped Frina on the arm. “I’ve gotta go back to my dorm. Frina, this is Doctor Skirth; she’ll lead the actual medical exam and later help you settle in,” they told her.

“Good night, Marsail,” Frina and Pinion greeted as Marsail left.

Frina glanced back at the backpacks, suitcases, and flute case being carried to her room, wherever the heck it is. Dr Skirth and a number of other people in lab coats walked her to the Life Foundation’s miniature hospital.

Pinion lets out another “peent”. Even Frina notices Dr Skirth frequently glancing at her and the purple bird.

“Can’t wait until Monday to see how we respond to shiny objects?” Frina asked. It’s Friday night in San Francisco right now.

“No, it’s just – this is the first time I’ve seen perfect symbiosis between a symbiote and its host,” Skirth responded.

Frina took shorter steps; these scientists don’t walk as fast as she does.

“Really? You mean you’ve tested other symbiotes with humans to see how well they fuse?” Pinion questioned this time.

“We’re not at liberty to discuss that with you,” another scientist said.

Frina looked at the scientist and then at Skirth; the latter kept her eyes forward, occasionally downcast, as if guilty about something the Life Foundation is hiding.

Whatever it was, Frina and Pinion cannot worry about that yet. At the in-house hospital, Frina changed into a patient gown as instructed. She tried to recall as many details as possible when Skirth interviewed her about her medical history. Then, the medically-experienced personnel gave Frina a physical exam to give her internal organs a general inspection, also checking her blood pressure and temperature.

“Can’t this be over with any faster?” budgerigar-shaped Pinion asked while Frina is strapped to an EKG machine.

“Ordinarily, it would be easy to get results from an MRI. As it turns out, the sound frequencies from the machine are harmful to symbiotes,” Skirth explained. “I’m surprised you didn’t know about that.”

“I’ve never been in an MRI machine before, so I didn’t know it has noise that can injure my purple birb. Pinion hates loud noises, I know that. I thought that was a completely rational trait,” Frina remarked.

“I’ve grown to like heavy metal, though. Someone say a song title and I’ll try to sing it from memory like this geek here,” Pinion said, batting the tip of a wing against Frina’s cheek.

“But isn’t heavy metal, I dunno, loud?” Skirth pointed out.

“It’s what we call ‘preferred noise’. Metallica at lower volumes is still better than pop music or EDM that tries to blow out our eardrums,” Frina replied.

Skirth smiled at that. “You know, it’s really quite amazing to witness your symbiosis with Pinion. Did you two become more like each other, or was it your similarities that made you so compatible for one another?” she asked.

“Ah, ye olde Chicken Vs Egg conundrum,” Pinion exclaimed.

Frina chuckled once, then her eyes moved to the upper left, trying to recall how she and Pinion met.

“Pinion flew to me as a crow, and then she jumped at me. She talked to me a little bit, made me fly around the neighbourhood, and then told me how she and her team arrived on Earth.”

Skirth eyed Pinion. “Did you try to bond with other hosts before Frina?” she asked.

“I did, yeah, because I had to. Then again, they were all birds.”

Other researchers listening nearby glanced at each other. One of them took notes.

“Yeah, keep staring at me. The two things I keep hearing about from my fellow symbiotes is that I’m a coward and that I’m weird,” Pinion stated.

Frina held out her palms and let Pinion jump into her hands. She then stroked the small purple budgie and kissed the top of its head.

Low self-esteem. That was Frina’s state of being for a large part of her life, but for the past year she has been prescribed ketamine infusions on top of her usual antidepressants and anti-anxiety pills. The host looks happy now, but there might be times when old thoughts return to haunt her.

Besides a fixation on music, the host is also overly fond of fictional works. Escaping from the real world, from capitalistic requirements of life – the other scientists are sure to note down the host’s apparent psychological compatibility with her symbiote.

In any case, although birds have died in the process, Skirth was glad that Pinion and Frina had been a perfect match from the moment they met. It meant no human had to die to see which person can host Pinion. Well, it also meant _Frina_ didn’t have to die after meeting Pinion.

When the night’s basic tests have been completed, Frina changed back into her shirt, jeans, and boots. Pinion perched on her shoulder as a spherical-looking spotted dove.

“Good night, Dr Skirth. We hope to see you and Marsail in the morning,” Frina said.

“Good night, Frina and Pinion,” Skirth responded.

Security guards led Frina out of the medical quarters to show her to her room. Before leaving Dr Skirth, however, Carlton walked past Frina and the guards, giving the symbiote host an acknowledging glance. When Frina looked over her shoulder, she saw Carlton addressing the scientists.

‘He’s up to something,’ Pinion told Frina.

‘Isn’t he always?’

‘I don’t have a good feeling about this one.’

* * *

Dr Skirth and the other symbiote experiment researchers organised the data and ordered the findings in a way that hopefully makes the most sense. Carlton read through the findings quickly; whether he was speed-reading or just skimming over in half-interest, Skirth is not quite sure.

“This is more or less what I expected, but that doesn’t stop it from being incredible,” Carlton exclaimed. “We finally have a symbiote and a host coexisting in perfect harmony.”

The other scientists nodded, many of them smiling. Of course Carlton would be happy about a girl and her symbiote surrendering themselves to him willingly.

“Good work, everyone. You deserve a nice break from this. On Monday, when the host and symbiote have adapted to their new habitat, we can commence the new experiments.”

Skirth tidied her items and packed up to leave with the others, but Carlton remained standing near her.

“Do you need something, Mr Drake?” she asked.

“Walk with me,” he simply said.

Skirth slung her handbag and obeyed. His steps are unhurried as he leads the way down to the security office. She tried to feign ignorance, but then it became of no use when she saw the guard from the previous night standing next to Roland Treece, Carlton Drake’s security manager.

“Good evening, Dr Skirth.”

So they reviewed the security footage and saw her letting an outsider into the Life Foundation complex. No camera managed to get decent-enough pictures of the intruder for facial recognition, so Carlton pulled Skirth aside.

He continues leading the way and stops when he and Skirth are standing in one of the symbiote research labs, part of a place they’re not yet ready to show Frina and Pinion.

“Doctor Dora Skirth,” Carlton began speaking, “you have a long list of academic achievements, a great track record even before you joined the Life Foundation, and you’re good with people – with kids, especially. So you’ll understand how difficult it is for me to wrap around my head – the idea of you sneaking someone in to see what the Life Foundation was up to.”

He leaned against the desk in the enclosed lab.

“Can you help me understand?” he asked.

Skirth gathered her composure. “I was troubled by what we’ve been doing.”

“I get it… I get it. We’ve all been troubled – it’s the nature of what we do. But I need you to tell me who was here with you.”

Carlton gazed into her eyes.

“I need that from you.”

Skirth glanced down, and then shook her head. “I can’t do that.”

Carlton looked away, taking some steps around the room.

“We can’t fix things unless we begin with – your friend – the person who was here, because they’re gonna die. They’re in grave danger.”

He paused, and turned to her again. “You know that, right? They’re gonna die unless we bring them back here, where _you_ can help to keep them alive.”

Carlton, full of conviction, believing in every single word he spoke, walked toward her and stood directly in front of her.

“Hey – Dora. I promise from here on in, we will do things differently. We have Frina and Pinion now, and through our research with them, who knows what other great things we can accomplish.” He paused. “Will you trust me?”

After everything that has happened, the way he treated the subjects, the way he asked about her children, Skirth should know there is no other reason to trust Carlton Drake, no reason at all to believe in his promises. But he is right about one thing: Eddie could die, and the Life Foundation has the resources to help him.

And if Frina knows the truth, maybe she can help Eddie, too.

She closed her eyes, swallowed, and looked Carlton in the eyes.

“Eddie Brock,” she said, her voice almost inaudible.

“Eddie Brock?” he repeated. She nodded.

Carlton gave her a long look, saying nothing at first. He began walking away, past the canister with the blue symbiote.

“You were our best.”

He paused to face the scientist on standby before slipping out the door.

“Open it.”

“What?” Skirth eyed the blue symbiote, now freed from its prison. “Wait, no. No!” she screamed.

There is no hope of getting out, not with the door being locked from the outside. The liquid alien rolled across the lab floor, splashing quickly towards her.

“Stay away from me!” Skirth yelled. Her loud voice did halt the symbiote, but only for a split-second. With no other host around, there is nowhere the symbiote would rather head to than Skirth.

She held up her forearms in front of her face – a futile gesture, knowing the symbiote can easily seep into her, passing easily through her clothes.

Skirth leaned back against the glass wall, unable to do anything as the symbiote quests around her insides. Hunger struck her immediately; she has seen how other subjects responded when first exposed to symbiote fusion. Then she began sweating.

She took off her scarf but hugged it to her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut, and she can see the memories of the human subjects that the blue symbiote took over.

The lenses of her glasses fogged up as she began to cry. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she thought as she sensed their lives waste away.

‘You humans are so pitiful, letting emotions overpower every single one of your acts. This is necessary. It’s what must be done,’ a stern, vaguely-feminine voice spoke inside her.

Skirth gasped.

‘You’re the symbiote… you’re talking to me,’ she realised.

‘My name is Lasher. I am a senior scout among my people.’

‘Are you the leader?’ Skirth asked, taking her glasses off to wipe her eyes. It would make sense if Lasher was; she sounded just like Carlton.

‘I wish I was. Riot is our team leader. It’s just as well that he made your superior his host.’

Skirth froze. ‘Carlton has a symbiote of his own? Oh, dear God. This is bad…’

She thought about Cecilia and Joshua.

‘Who?’ Lasher asked.

‘My children.’

Dear Cecilia with dark eyes and curly hair, sweet Joshua with soft angular features he has yet to grow into. They were born on the same day to different mothers, and after about three years of foster care, got adopted on the same day by one woman. By Dora Skirth, who wanted to give them a loving home.

‘I can’t let Carlton harm them,’ Skirth answered. She stood up, scarf and glasses in her hands, and began walking to the locked lab door.

‘You call them your offspring, yet they don’t look like you,’ Lasher stated.

‘They are still my responsibility. I won’t let you harm them either,’ she declared.

Lasher suddenly gripped her whole body. She cannot move her limbs.

‘I never said I’m out to harm your young,’ Lasher told her.

‘Then what did you say about “this” being necessary, something that must be done?’ Skirth demanded.

The symbiote began sounding defensive. ‘I meant the bond between human and symbiote. My teammates and I have to find suitable hosts. Once we achieve that and gather our team back together, we must find a way to take our people here, to this planet…’

Lasher trailed off. Skirth resumed walking to the door, and once she reached the control panels, she tried whatever she could to open the door and get out.

‘What will your people do, once you’re all here?’ Skirth asked.

‘… We will consume. It is our nature. Take hosts we like, and eat the rest.’

Skirth shut her eyes, pressing her forehead against the unyielding door. She began feeling an inexplicable headache.

‘Will your people subject my children to symbiote bonding? Will you eat them if they can’t find a match? And if I stop you… will you kill me?’ she asked question after question.

Her throat let out an involuntary scream. The hand holding her scarf – fortunately not her glasses – pounded hard against the glass door. After about five bone-shaking hits, one of the researchers switched on the sonic system that is effective in subduing symbiotes.

She stumbled back from the door and landed on her rear. Despite herself, she placed her palms over her ears. Maybe she thought that if it stops hurting her, it will stop hurting her symbiote as well.

The image of her children swam into her mind again, even though she was not the one who called them up.

‘I need time to think about this,’ Lasher spoke, her voice wavering uncharacteristically.

Skirth released her hands when the sonic blasts stopped, but before she can put her glasses back on, she felt her vision fade, her hearing too, and then her consciousness.

Darkness became her world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my fics, my headcanon is that Dora is a single mom and has two adopted kids: Cecilia (African-American) and Joshua (Vietnamese-American), born and adopted on the same day. When Dora is busy, her younger brother Tyler Skirth would babysit or care for them.


	4. Patching Things Up

Frina did not sleep well on arrival night. Her body is still trying to adjust to the new time zone; 9AM here is midnight of the next day, back in Kuala Lumpur.

‘Wonder if Carl’s also suffering from jet lag,’ she mused.

‘Why wouldn’t he? Anyway, get up. We should get some breakfast,’ Pinion urged her.

They freshened up at their enclosure’s private shower. After Frina is dressed in her usual T-shirt and jeans, with Palladium boots and a grey hoodie, she rang the call button of her enclosure to the opening melody-lengths of Wherever I May Roam.

It seems that even on a Saturday morning, there are scientists, researchers, and data analysts at work. Marsail Beliveau arrived at the enclosure door to let Frina out.

“Good morning, Frina and Pinion.”

“Morning, Marsail,” host and symbiote greeted together. “Did you sleep well?”

“I dunno. Did _you_?”

The groggy humans walked side-by-side to the cafeteria.

Most of the people Frina saw at the place are staff who stayed in San Francisco, though a few familiar data analysts and security people seem to have forced themselves to get up and work today.

“Have you seen Dr Skirth this morning? The last Pinion and I saw her, she was staying back with Carlton and some other scientists, and that was it,” Frina said.

“I’m surprised she was around so late at night anyways. As far as I know, she usually worked during normal office hours, until a few nights ago. I mean, I guess now there’s more symbiote work on our hands, so more scientists are being called to work extra hours.”

“Ah, right. That would make sense.”

Marsail and Frina queued for their breakfast, and later sat down at a table with some of Marsail’s acquaintances. While Frina patiently cut up her omelette and hashbrowns, Pinion gobbled down an entire piece of papaya.

* * *

Fortunately, no tests have been scheduled for today, so Frina and Pinion followed Marsail as they help search for Dr Dora Skirth - if she is still at the Life Foundation complex, that is.

“Wait.” Pinion stopped Frina. The purple symbiote took over this time, leading the humans to an unfamiliar area.

“Can you get us through?” Frina asked Marsail.

They swiped their keycard to open the doors. Frina’s long and fast strides threaten to leave Marsail behind, but the young researcher managed to catch up with a little jog.

“We’re not supposed to allow you here –” Marsail said, but Frina’s figure did not stop or slow down.

There is a commotion, people in lab coats murmuring as they stand surrounding one of the glass enclosures. Frina and Pinion briefly noted one broken enclosure and one that is intact, but their true destination is beyond the onlooking scientists.

One of them noticed Frina approaching.

“This area is off-limits to –”

Pinion completely encased Frina, puffing up as a five-foot-tall northern white-faced owl.

“Open the fucking door,” symbiote and host demanded.

A handful of the nearest scientists scampered backward away from the bird symbiote and her human host. A scientist at the control panel looked at the one man wearing black among them – Carlton Drake – who nodded. The scientist obeyed, toggling a switch to open the door.

Marsail and Frina darted into the enclosure; they see that a tube meant to contain a symbiote has been left open. Lying motionless on the floor of that enclosure is a lab coat-wearing woman with tied-up hair.

“Dr Skirth,” Frina exclaimed.

Marsail knelt beside the still-looking body.

“There’s a pulse - she’s still alive,” they stated, and then stood again to face the other scientists. “Well, don’t just stand there gawking; call for a stretcher already,” Marsail said aloud.

Frina, led by Pinion still encasing her, sat down next to Skirth’s body. Marsail was right: Skirth is breathing slowly as if asleep, but her current posture is not relaxed.

Pinion reached out to touch Skirth’s shoulder.

_Images flashed in their united minds: human volunteers dying from the symbiote experiments, Dora Skirth sneaking a scruffy-looking reporter into the Life Foundation complex, Carlton standing before Skirth and interrogating her, the blue symbiote surging and seeping into her skin…_

“Frina,” Carlton called.

He seems to have dismissed all the other researchers. They have left, although Marsail remained standing outside the enclosure. Carlton stood to one side, letting the paramedics gently lift Skirth to a medical trolley and strap her in.

Frina got to her feet slowly, and once the paramedics have gone, she stared at the man who made magnanimous promises to her parents. To her.

“You set Lasher on Dr Skirth with the intention of letting her kill Skirth,” Frina stated.

“It didn’t work. She’s still alive,” Carlton pointed out.

Frina and Pinion moved as one bird-shaped person, walking toward him.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you were trying to kill her.”

While Frina’s own eyes are moist, Pinion’s eyes blazed with calm fury.

Carlton waved Marsail away.

“If Pinion hadn’t sensed that something was wrong, I wouldn’t have found these labs either, would I? You were never going to tell us what you were really doing with the other symbiotes you brought to Earth,” Frina stated.

“It’s a trivial matter that is not worth discussing between us. Your attention and presence are needed in better places,” Carlton told her.

Pinion guided Frina’s movement with little difficulty. Their combined left forearm shot up in a horizontal hold, pinning Carlton’s neck against a wall. Frina and Pinion stood facing Carlton, symbiote beak threatening to peck out his eyes.

“Trivial? You think it’s trivial that we noticed Dr Skirth has a conscience, and that you were trying to punish her for blowing the whistle?” Frina and Pinion demanded.

Riot rose to surround his host and grabbed the puny forearm in his large fist. He went to take the other hand and soon pinned both of them against the exterior of the abandoned glass enclosure.

“What are you going to do about it, Pinion?” he challenged. “Your host eagerly left her home, and she agreed to stay and get paid. It just so happens that part of staying means she mustn’t interfere with the plans I made with my host.”

The gigantic silver symbiote breathed scornfully in Pinion’s face.

“Is your host going to run away like you always wanted? Do you think her parents will take her back if it meant losing the money they could’ve received for the rest of their lives?”

Riot has a point, but that only made Frina and Pinion angrier.

Protected by Pinion and still held up against the wall, Frina pulled up her legs and delivered a cassowary stomp to Riot’s gut. After stumbling back several steps, he let out a low roar.

Frina’s feet found the floor and returned stability to her posture.

“Maybe you’ve killed a lot of people to get to where you are. I understand that; I’ve wanted to kill a whole bunch of people myself,” Frina admitted, taking steady steps toward Riot. “But Dr Skirth is a good person.”

Riot straightened up; he let half of his face melt away and allowed Carlton to speak.

“Oh. D’you think she’s as good to you as she was to the other people she experimented on?”

“She did that under _your_ direction,” Frina hollered.

“‘Just following orders’, that’s a classic excuse,” Carlton stated.

Frina cried out and advanced, rooting her feet when she closed the distance. She slammed an elbow to Riot’s chest.

The silver symbiote shaped his right hand into a blade, his left into a hammer. He took Pinion’s host-guided battering calmly, though he and Carlton are surprised by the birds’ ferocity. It’s something neither of them have ever seen before.

Riot struggled to counter Pinion’s fast attacks. She kept diving in and out, using walls, ceiling and floor to her advantage.

One lucky swipe cut across her right midsection. When Pinion next looked at him and Carlton, her eyes screamed murder.

Riot grinned, thoroughly immersed in the fight.

Pinion advanced again.

He got ready to slam his hammer hand into her, but a screeching noise from a handheld loudspeaker stopped him. He and Carlton placed their hands over their ears.

Pinion stayed on Frina, whose Palladium boots scraped against the grates of the metal floor.

The symbiotes and their hosts turned to the source of the noise. It was Marsail who pressed the alarm button on the loudspeaker, who wanted them to stop fighting.

“What is wrong with you? And what’s wrong with _you_?” they cried out.

Riot returned into Carlton, and Pinion remained visible only on Frina’s arms and shoulders.

“What’s done is done. Dr Skirth is not dead; she’s in a coma, but the medics stabilised her.”

Marsail turned to Carlton. “And you. You couldn’t have given Skirth a normal disciplinary hearing? And to think we went through a lot of trouble logging in the details of each experimental subject. You’re not above the rules of your own company.”

Carlton smiled at the scientist for a second, but did not retaliate.

Frina moved to stand between Carlton and Marsail. She glared at the former with thirty years’ worth of fury despite having lived only twenty-seven years of life.

‘If you touch Marsail, we will end you.’

Marsail yanked at one of Frina’s sleeves.

“You’re hurt, you crazy flutist. You need to see a medic,” they told her.

“Can you take Pinion and I to see Dr Skirth?” Frina asked, turning to the nonbinary researcher.

“Go see a medic first,” Marsail insisted. “You, too, Mr Drake.”

“We’ll be fine,” Carlton told them, walking away.

* * *

After the medics have healed what turned out to be superficial cuts and bruises on Frina, Marsail took note of the after-effects of the fight on her and Pinion.

Later, they sat with tiny host and symbiote facing Dora Skirth’s bed in the Life Foundation medical quarters.

“Back at the enclosure, you called the blue symbiote Lasher. How did you know that name?” Marsail asked.

“When Pinion and I touched Skirth on the shoulder, we felt a… weird connection. We got a sense of the symbiote and host’s memories,” Frina explained.

Pinion plopped on one good shoulder as a nightjar.

“That’s how we symbiotes communicate sometimes. Upon contact, our minds can transfer a lot of info. As a result, now Lasher and Skirth know all the boring crap Frina learned in accounting school.”

“Shut up, nerd.”

“ _You’re_ the nerd.”

“So,” Marsail interrupted their banter, “can you do it again? Communicate with Lasher and Skirth?”

Frina looked at the inert but alive Dora Skirth.

“We could try, I guess,” she said.

Pinion melted and went to cover Frina’s right hand. They touched Skirth again, below the ear this time.

_Arguments with Riot. Feeling of loss when their scout vessel went into self-destruct. Arrogance at how no human can serve her, triumph and righteousness when she finally found her match. But when Lasher bonded with Dora, she felt the overwhelming touch of the gentle-souled woman’s love for and sense of protection over her children. And now Lasher is in conflict, stopping herself._

_‘Get me out of here,’ Lasher begged as she clung to her host._

Frina and Pinion withdrew.

“What did you see?” Marsail asked.

“Hang on a second,” Frina told them. She wants to test a theory.

She looked around for a sharp implement and found a scalpel. She brought it back, took aim at Skirth’s exposed upper forearm, and jabbed it down.

Blue liquid shot up to resist the stabbing threat. The symbiote did not try to harm the attacker in retribution, but she will not let the host be hurt.

“Huh - would ya look at that,” Frina exclaimed softly.

Satisfied, she put the scalpel away and returned to sit next to Marsail.

“What was your theory?”

“It’s confirmed: Lasher will help preserve the life and wellbeing of her host,” she stated.

Marsail hummed. “Even when the host is unconscious… That’s one for the journal,” they remarked.

“So you were asking about what Pinion and I saw when we reached out to Lasher,” Frina reminded.

“Right.”

Frina let Pinion explain to Marsail what the symbiotes were doing before Life Foundation astronauts found the four scouts and one douchebag of a leader. The scouts have been on a mission to seek out planets with life-forms, and then Riot came up with a plan to let the five of them get captured and led to life-filled Earth. The “right thing to do” in Lasher’s position would be to work with Riot and lead the strongest symbiotes to Earth so their kind are able to feast.

Somewhere along the way, however, Lasher learned that Skirth is a mother to two children, and that “doing the right thing” meant it is possible that the symbiote swarm will take over and eat not just Skirth’s kids, but so many others.

Basically, right now Lasher is torn between serving her people (though that’ll involve working with Riot) and living peacefully with Skirth and her family.

“How long do you think this inner conflict is going to last?” Marsail asked.

“I couldn’t say. I connected well with Fri-Nerd because she and I are similar. Riot chose Drake for the same reason – they’re both egotistical dickbags. Dr Skirth is compatible with Lasher biologically, but I guess there’s a sense of duty, too?”

Pinion tried to find the right words.

“Feelings like love sometimes have a way of impeding one’s sense of duty, and vice versa. Until Lasher makes her choice, we don’t know when Dr Skirth will wake up, and what they will do when that happens.”

Marsail looked worried at the possibility of Earth being the symbiote society’s next hunting ground.

“Is there a way to, I dunno, convince Lasher to choose a peaceful life?” they wondered.

Frina and Pinion sighed together.

“We’re not sure. Maybe we’ll visit them every now and then, show them that life on Earth is not so bad.”

Frina’s voice trailed away at the last seven words. She knows where she is. She cannot forget Riot grinning at her, Carlton needling at her conscience…

Marsail pulled Frina into a tight hug. Frina hugged them back from an awkward hand position.

“We’ll work through this. Everything will be okay.”

“How can you be sure?” Frina asked.

“Because it has to.”

Frina tensed up at the squeaking of wheels. She and Marsail let go of each other.

“So, Drake’s got one up his ass, too, huh?”

A thin, long-haired woman in experimental subject clothing made her way to the general area of Skirth’s bed.

Frina stayed silent, blinking at the woman. She glanced at the bird on Frina’s shoulder, but averted her eyes thereafter.

“It’s good to see you’re up and about, Maria,” Marsail told the long-haired woman.

Maria sat at an empty chair on the other side of Skirth’s bed.

“Cut your compassionate-faced act. You know I’ve heard enough, but obviously I can’t run around blabbing the truth to the public. I remember what happened to the last guy who tried that,” she spoke.

Marsail inhaled at length and exhaled.

“I know I can’t instantly change how you feel towards me or the other scientists at the Foundation, but – things will get better,” they assured Maria.

“Whatever.”

Maria finally regarded Frina and Pinion.

“How come your alien isn’t killing you?” she asked.

“I’m weird that way,” Pinion responded.

Maria sneered at the perfectly compatible pair. “And what, your host is ‘not like the other girls’?”

Frina’s jaw tightened. Marsail placed one hand on her shoulder; the gentle touch is enough to hold their friend back.

“Easy, Frina. Maria’s been through a lot,” Marsail explained. “Dr Skirth managed to call the paramedics in time to stabilise her after her symbiote left her body.”

“Her symbiote? Oh, right,” Frina exclaimed.

Maria shrugged. “It should’ve been obvious – not like your boyfriend rounds up homeless people to help him bake cookies.”

Frina wanted to bang her forehead against a wall. It wasn’t Maria that specifically made her angry.

“He’s not my – holy fucking shit, why would you call him that?” she asked.

“Have you even heard the way Drake talks about you? The guy is obsessed, I swear,” Maria continued.

Frina turned as if to ask Marsail if Maria was right, but covered her face with both hands instead.

‘He’s only interested in us as experiment subjects. If he’s excited about us, it will only be because we’re compatible, and he and _his_ boyfriend Riot can use us if we’re on their side,’ Frina affirmed to herself.

Pinion shifted into an orb-like robin on Frina’s shoulder.

“The symbiote that tried to fuse with you in your last experiment – was it Venom?” she asked.

Maria frowned. “How did you know that?”

“I can smell traces of him on you. They’re faint because he’s been gone for a bit, but I could tell it was him,” Pinion explained.

Maria looked away momentarily.

“Yeah, it’s him. He may have eaten some of my organs, but for the most part, it’s not his fault. Plus he’s a lot nicer than most humans, especially Life Foundation scientists,” she remarked.

Marsail took the words in stride, acknowledging the issues that Maria will have to work through.

“If you could meet him again, would you stay friends with him?” Pinion asked.

Maria paused. She could be thinking about Venom, about the person whom Venom jumped to.

“I wouldn’t mind it, Beaky,” she replied.

Frina felt surprise and a hint of joy emanating from Pinion. She and her symbiote glanced at each other.

“Tongue-Guy mentioned me?” Pinion cheeped out.

Maria closed her eyes briefly, showing teeth when she smiled. “Are you kidding? The guy worries about you like a mother hen. I’d want to see him again if only to show him that you’re okay.”

“Oh… sorry about that,” Pinion said.

“Apology accepted,” Maria said with a chuckle.

Marsail held Frina’s shoulder in place; the purple symbiote’s host was about to fall asleep.

“Sorry – jet lag,” Frina said.

“Welp, we’ve gotta leave. Maria, pleasure meeting you – we wish you a speedy recovery, and we hope to see you again,” Pinion greeted.

Before leaving the medical quarters, Frina looked over her shoulder. Maria stood up and stared at Skirth, but her eyes didn’t hold the same hatred they did for Marsail or at the mention of other Life Foundation scientists.


	5. Numbers of Letters

For the three hours after having lunch, Frina lay in bed to rest, napping on and off. Her flute is on the table, ready for her to take it up and play at any time.

She sat up to drink some water, but the glass is empty. She walked to the room’s water dispenser to fill it up, and before she could sit in her bed again, she stopped where she stood.

Carlton is making his way to her enclosure. He has removed his grey blazer and left his black long-sleeved shirt unzipped, revealing a white undershirt that notably stretches over his pecs.

‘Damn it, Maria,’ Frina thought to herself.

She set the refilled glass down on the table next to her flute. Carlton stood at the outer side of the room’s glass door, and Frina walked to the door on her side.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

“Can I even stop you?” Frina asked back.

He glanced away. “I’d feel better if you’re okay with it,” he said.

“Well, sucks for you, bub.”

Frina turned away and went to her PC, playing ragtime music on her iTunes. She turned up the volume, but only to the point where Pinion is comfortable. Frina then flopped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling.

Carlton took off his shoes at the door, grabbed a spare stool, and set it down next to the bed to sit facing the bed’s occupant.

“I’m not here to apologise.”

“Obviously.”

“I’m not saying this for the reason you think. I know that if I apologise, you’ll think I’m lying, because _I_ believe I’m justified in my actions.”

He reached out to touch her elbow, but Pinion’s beak-snappy goose head discouraged him. He placed his hand on the bed instead.

“You barely knew Dr Skirth. Why would you care so much about her?”

“Uh, because I’m a human who unfortunately has feelings and cares about certain people?”

Frina got up from her bed and circled around Carlton to get to her glass of water.

“Empathy, then,” Carlton said as Frina emptied half the glass.

She set it down and plopped on her PC-designated office chair.

“Back there, you said you understand why I killed other humans - I’d say it’s in the name of scientific progress,” Carlton spoke in a light tone. “But I’m currently more interested in the reasons _you_ would want to kill people.”

Frina stared at the computer screen, then paused her music and slowly turned to Carlton.

“You said you’ve wanted to kill several people yourself.” He looked her in the eyes. “What would it take for you to consider killing?”

Heavy footsteps approached the enclosure.

“Mr Drake, we’ve apprehended Eddie Brock,” Treece called from beyond one wall. Then he saw that Carlton was deep in conversation with the younger, presumably less-troublesome symbiote host. “Sorry, sir, I didn’t realise -”

“We’ll continue this conversation later,” Carlton said to Frina.

‘Eddie… that’s the reporter who Skirth helped sneak into the Life Foundation HQ.’

‘He must be the one Venom jumped to when he left Maria,’ Pinion told Frina.

The tiny host picked up her flute and put on her heeled sandals while Carlton is re-wearing his shoes.

“We’re coming with you,” Frina told Carlton.

“It could be dangerous,” he said to her.

“Venom? Dangerous?” Pinion cawed.

Out of the security man’s sight, Riot surfaced on half of Carlton’s face to glare at her. “We should’ve shown you the news reports of what happened, how much destruction he and his host caused.”

Frina shrugged.

“Whatever. But if Eddie is Venom’s host, Pinion and I will be there to make sure you don’t kill him.”

Riot returned into Carlton, who regarded the little birds with amusement.

“After you, then,” he acquiesced. “Treece, take us to the prisoner.”

* * *

“You can’t kill me ’cause I’m dying anyway.”

Carlton and Frina stood next to each other a distance away. It seems Carlton has given Treece permission to rough up the detainee before the proper interrogation starts.

The shaven-headed security man lowered himself to Eddie’s seated level.

“I’m not just gonna kill you. That wouldn’t be any fun,” he spoke. “No, no, no, no, no – I’m gonna rip your tongue outta your face.”

Eddie’s head butted violently against Treece’s nose, making the latter reel back and groan in pain.

“Whew!”

Holding her flute in one hand, Frina covered her smiling mouth with her other hand.

Carlton sighed and began walking into the lab where Eddie is strapped to a chair. Frina easily caught up with him.

“Stop – you’re bleeding all over my lab, go. Go!” he told Treece.

Frina stepped aside while Treece left. She moved to stand against one of the transparent walls of the lab while Carlton stood to face Eddie.

The mess of a reporter glanced at Frina and her flute. “What’s she here for? To play music while you torture me?” he asked.

Frina snickered. “I’m not gonna play any classical music, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she said with a smile.

Carlton briefly lowered his head to Eddie’s level, but his face is not close enough to be headbutted like Treece’s earlier.

“ _She_ is here to keep me from even considering killing you, Brock.”

Eddie frowned, glancing at Frina again.

“Oh, so you’re playing bad cop while she’s the good cop, is that the deal?”

Carlton ignored the question and began pacing around the lab.

“Where is the symbiote? My company incurred significant costs pursuing it - pursuing you.”

“I dunno… y’know what, even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you anyway,” Eddie said. “I don’t trust you, and – you’re insane.”

Frina didn’t bother hiding her grin this time.

“That hurts,” Carlton said, gesturing at his chest.

“Alright.”

“Long journal entry about that tonight. You’re being dumb, Brock, I’m not insane.” Carlton began walking around the room again. “What’s insane is the way humans choose to live today. Think about it: all we do is take, take, take… we can’t go on.”

Eddie glanced at Frina; she is still on her feet, holding her flute loosely with one hand, but her eyes are closed as if she is snoozing throughout Carlton’s monologue.

“We brought the world to the brink of extinction. We’re parasites – you’re a good example.”

Eddie tilted his head.

“Think about it: all you do is take.” Carlton stopped pacing and stood facing Eddie. “You took my symbiote. You take pot-shots at a great man trying to get something done.”

“Who?”

Carlton glared at Eddie, trying to ignore the snickering he heard from one side of the room.

“Didn’t you take from the person you love the most, who trusted you the most? That’s insane. What _I’ve_ initiated is a whole new world, a new species!”

Carlton gestured with his hands. “Man and symbiote – combined.”

“Lemme tell you something, buddy,” Eddie spoke, “I just met a man – because I have spent a significant amount of time, alright, with one of these creatures _up my ass_!”

Carlton shifted his feet. Frina opened her eyes.

“It’s not a lot of fun. And then, I find out – all along – that they’re _killing_ you!”

“This is the last time I’m asking you. Where is my symbiote?” Carlton demanded.

Eddie shrugged. “I have no idea.”

Riot took over Drake and roared in Eddie’s face. “WHERE IS HE?”

“Oh, God!” Eddie cringed at the sudden emergence of the silver symbiote.

“WHERE’S VENOM?”

“That is the ugliest-looking thing I have ever seen!”

Before Riot can roar at Eddie again, a jelly-like purple wing flitted to push Riot’s head aside. Eddie turned his face forward again, and he can see a person-sized bird waving Riot away… and the bird’s other wing ends in a small hand that is still holding a flute.

Riot growled in the bird’s face instead, and retreated into Carlton, who now walks away from the bird-person and Eddie.

Purple goo receded into the small woman’s casually-dressed figure, all except enough mass to shape into a pastel-purple macaw that perches on the host’s shoulder. They turned to face Eddie.

“Oh, he… has one up his ass, too. And you have one up your, um…”

“Ass. It’s gender-neutral,” Frina said to him. She glanced at Carlton, now leaning against a different wall, and then began to pace slowly in front of Eddie.

“Wait. Purple bird…”

Frina stopped. She and the bird regarded the man who smelled stronger of Venom than Maria did.

“You’re Beaky, right? Or Pinion, rather – that’s your proper name, sorry.”

“Hmmh. Same ol’ Tongue-Guy,” the small symbiote remarked.

“Venom and Pinion go way back, but I’d say Venom hasn’t met me yet.” Frina raised her right hand briefly. “My name is Frina. I’m Pinion’s host.”

Eddie followed her eyes as she glanced at Carlton. The man nodded at her, and she returned her attention to Eddie, pacing in front of the interrogation chair again.

“Right – I’m not much of a scientist, but I’ve learned first-hand and second-hand that, when 100% symbiosis is achieved, the symbiote will go all-out to protect their host.”

Eddie frowned. “Protect? Are you sure about that? Venom lived in my body and called me his ride. He’s been feeding on my organs – he’s a damn parasite.”

Pinion shook from her legs to her head.

“PARASITE?” she practically spat out the word.

Frina bodily held Pinion back from fighting Eddie. The girl paused, thinking before she chooses her next words.

“I’ve had Pinion for well over a week now, and I haven’t felt any effects of organ failure. The lab geeks ran physical tests on me last night and didn’t find anything wrong with my liver or kidneys, despite my ridiculous salt intake,” she explained.

“All that salt ends up with me. I’m the Dead Sea, baby,” Pinion added, shaking a clawed foot in Eddie’s direction.

“I’m not clear on what chemical reactions specifically happen in the body, but as long as I’m happy, Pinion will be very happy. That’s why she didn’t need to feed on my organs,” Frina spoke.

Eddie nodded.

Pinion stopped struggling in Frina’s right arm and morphed into a palm cockatoo. She hopped onto Frina’s shoulder and began bobbing her head to a tune that only she and Frina can hear.

“Look,” Frina continued, “I think I can assume that, from what I know about you, your life hasn’t been easy, and you don’t have much of a reason to be happy. But whatever happens, I hope you and Venom find each other again, and that you can be happy with him. Pinion and Maria said he’s not so bad.”

“If you say so…” Eddie muttered, but then sat up straight. “Wait, Maria is alive?”

“Enough of that now,” Carlton said, moving to stand next to Frina. “As these birds mentioned, they have a theory that Venom will come looking for you.”

Eddie gave a short, rueful laugh; he looked away from the symbiote-bonded humans.

“I intend to test their theory. If they’re right, I’ll have my researchers prepare a nice place for you and Venom to live in.”

“Like prisoners?”

“If they’re wrong, I could feed you to the last unbonded symbiote in the lab…”

At that moment, Pinion growled like no common bird is capable of. Carlton sighed.

“But my soft-hearted colleagues won’t let that happen. They will instead make sure you crawl back into your sad, empty life.”

Frina moved closer to the chair keeping Eddie bound and looked at Carlton. After he nods at her, she begins releasing the straps around Eddie.

He continued gazing at the floor, occasionally eyeing Frina and her purple bird.

Carlton called for Treece, this time to arrange a security team to assemble at the front gates.

* * *

On their way to the front, Frina played songs softly on her flute. Eddie is not familiar with many of the melodies.

“What song is that?” he asked Frina at one point.

“It’s titled ‘This World Can’t Tear Us Apart’, by a heavy metal band called Trivium,” she replied.

“Huh. Never knew you can make metal sound nice. Gotta find the right instrument, I guess.”

Frina gave Eddie an incredulous look.

“What? I just said you’re great with your instrument,” Eddie told her.

Carlton coughed into one hand.

“Yeah, but you dissed on metal.” Still, Frina exhaled and waved it off. “It’s okay. My parents aren’t into blood-pounding beats and melodic solos either.”

“Well… does Pinion like metal, too?” Eddie asked.

“Of course. It’s our preferred noise,” the symbiote spoke for herself and her host.

They did not have to wait long at the front gate. A looming shadow flitted from between the trees.

Frina stepped out to face the entity, hugging her flute with her left arm.

“Hey Tongue-Guy!” Pinion called out from Frina’s shoulder.

“Stand down,” Carlton told his men. Treece shoved Eddie forward.

Frina gave Eddie a gentle pat on the shoulder when he reached her side. He nodded at her, and took measured steps toward the approaching symbiote. As he walked, he couldn’t help noticing other firearm-holding figures standing at ease – but no doubt they’ll try to shoot the dark symbiote if he tries to run away.

But Venom ignored those other humans, focusing only on his host. Eddie’s feet stopped; he stared in awe at the muscular shape glistening in the late afternoon sunlight.

“Hi, Eddie,” Venom greeted, and clutched the collar of Eddie’s shirt. The symbiote knelt down and tilted its head to kiss Eddie on the mouth.

“Whoa – mmm. Mmmmmm.”

Frina’s eyebrows rose up.

“Wheat wee-oo,” Pinion exclaimed.

Throughout the kiss, they can hear Eddie’s moans of pleasure and other slobbery noises. They can also see Venom’s inky form travel from one host to another. When Venom has moved completely into Eddie, the onlookers can see that the host who brought Venom back to Eddie is a classy-looking woman with long blond hair.

The two kissing persons broke apart. Eddie shook his head to re-gather himself after fusing with Venom again.

“Annie,” Eddie breathed out, his face betraying a mixture of emotions. “You brought Venom back to me. I – I didn’t think we should be fusing again, but – thanks.”

“Venom asked my help. You were missing, he told me when he last saw you and what happened…” her voice trailed off.

“It’s still a trap. They want us to come in, but we are not allowed back out,” Venom stated.

“If you know it’s a trap, why did you come anyway?” Eddie asked Venom, then gestured at Anne. “Why did _you_?”

Venom’s head emerged from Eddie’s right shoulder, eyes trained on a short human and her small symbiote.

“I must talk to her,” he answered.

Eddie waved for Frina and Pinion to join in the group huddle. Frina covered the distance in under three seconds.

Venom grinned at the purple cockatoo.

“It’s good to see you alive and well, Beaky,” he greeted.

“You, too,” Pinion said with a good-humoured nod.

“Do you have a plan for our escape from here?” Venom asked.

Frina blinked, briefly glancing at the ground.

“We don’t have escape in mind. We surrendered ourselves to Carlton Drake because – by becoming an asset of the Life Foundation, Frina’s family gets a cut of the revenue that comes from research based on her and me,” Pinion explained.

Venom drew one heavy breath. “Never thought you’d side with Riot, Beaky,” he stated.

Pinion extended one wing to slap Venom’s head, and following the impact, she let the physical contact linger.

_Images flash between them: Eddie escaping Carlton’s men, Carlton making promises to Frina’s parents, the earlier fight that day between Pinion and Riot, Dora Skirth in a coma while inhabited and protected by Lasher, Maria frail but recovering._

Pinion withdrew her wing and pressed her head into Frina’s hair, and Frina stroked her feathers.

“It wasn’t Pinion’s choice to make, Venom,” Frina spoke in a low voice. “I ended up forcing her into this.”

“Hey… it’s not your fault,” Eddie said, then he frowned. “Your parents sold you to the Life Foundation?”

“Everyone has a price,” Frina echoed what Carlton - and many TV villains - said before.

“What’s this about selling people? Are you with Drake?” Anne asked Frina.

“I’m not _with_ him. I’m - just another experiment subject,” she said defensively.

“Oh yeah, Drake is dating her,” Venom interrupted.

To rub it in, even Pinion is cheered up enough to make a ‘huehueh’ sound.

“When Pinion slapped Venom - inspired move, by the way - she talked to Venom in symbiote. It’s some form of telepathy,” Eddie explained.

Pinion puffed out her chest in pride. Venom moved his head closer and unhinged his jaw as if to bite Pinion. The purple bird showed no fear, only mockingly made flailing motions and panicky sounds while Venom’s teeth and tongue pressed against her.

Then Venom stopped playing around with Pinion and wrapped himself around Eddie’s neck in a loop, pretending to be a stylish scarf for his host.

“So, what’s going to happen? Are you going to stay at the Life Foundation with the bird and the girl?” Anne asked. “That’s a bad idea.”

“I know, Annie, I know.”

Eddie inhaled and exhaled at length. He placed his hands in his pockets and gave a cursory glance all-around to the security guards watching the front gate.

“The word ‘thanks’ is not enough to describe what I want to say to you. And Dan, helping me when I’m scared and I didn’t know what to do.” He looked at Anne through moist eyes. “I owe you.”

Anne reached out and touched his shoulder. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you here,” she said.

“Drake is already using Pinion and Frina against me and Venom, and he might use a few other people I know against us. We don’t want you to end up on that list,” Eddie told her.

“They’ll be watching you,” Frina spoke up.

Eddie and Anne turned to face her.

“You and this Dan person know about Eddie having a symbiote, right? Then Carlton will make sure you tell no one about what the Life Foundation has, or the fact that someone you know is being taken in by the Foundation.”

“So – he’s gonna make me sign a non-disclosure agreement?” Anne asked.

“We’ll make sure he includes a clause where Venom and I will kick his ass if he ever harms you,” Pinion added.

“Yes,” Venom rumbled.

* * *

After the three humans and two symbiotes obtained the assurance that Carlton Drake will not harm Anne Weying or Dan Lewis, Carlton made arrangements to move Eddie’s meagre possessions out of his crappy apartment.

While Eddie oversaw the move, Frina (Pinion staying in her while in public) stood by to make sure no harm comes to him or Anne.

“Hey, um… d’you wanna talk about that kiss?” Eddie asked once the movers are almost done.

“Oh, that?” She looked away and paused. “That was your buddy’s idea.”

Inside Eddie, Venom rumbled with glee.

Playing Metallica songs on her flute at a low volume, Frina raised an eyebrow in Eddie’s direction, addressing the symbiote more than the host.

“Well –” Eddie clasped Anne’s hand, “– I guess this is goodbye, huh?”

Anne kissed him on the cheek.

“Take care, all of you. And - let me know if there’s anything I can help you with,” she said.

“Stay safe. Thanks for everything,” Eddie replied.

Back at the Life Foundation headquarters, while the movers prepared Eddie’s new enclosure, Treece and other security men accompanied Eddie to the medical quarters for a basic health checkup similar to what Frina was given just last night.

The way Carlton watched Eddie undergoing inspection – dressed only in a patient gown as the doctors question his medical history and take notes on his health – made him feel uncomfortable. The hidden symbiote host is sometimes distracted by the flute-playing host who also watches from a far side of the medical examination area. A purple hawk keeps its eyes on Venom’s human.

‘They’re looking out for us. Must be in return for you looking out for her, huh, Venom?’ Eddie wondered.

‘They are smaller. We will still look out for them,’ Venom pointed out.

Eddie nodded. It will be good to have allies – friends, even, to band with them against Carlton and Riot. There is the matter of Dora Skirth and the blue symbiote Lasher, but according to the birds, Dora’s contact with Lasher has left the host in a coma.

When the medical personnel are done, they and Carlton left the medical quarters. Eddie changed back into his clothes and went around to Maria’s hospital-styled bed.

“Hey, Maria,” he greeted.

“Eddie,” she replied in acknowledgment.

He sat in a visitor chair, facing her. For a long moment, neither of them talked.

“Maria, I’m sorry I left you behind the other day when I broke in here.”

“ _You_ broke in here? That didn’t sound like something you would do,” Maria said with a grin.

Eddie found himself smiling in return. “Yeah, well – I had help. Dr Skirth…”

Their good cheer faded somewhat. Skirth is in the same recovery ward, on the opposite side right behind Maria’s bed.

“Things like this… make me feel like it’s better not to care. Dr Skirth cared, and this is what happened to her,” Eddie exclaimed.

“You’re not wrong to care, Eddie. Neither was she. It’s the world that’s crooked; we just do what we can to live in it,” Maria replied. “Even if you try to stop caring, I think it’s gonna be a lot more difficult than getting an alien out of you.”

“Oh, right.”

Venom shyly surfaced from Eddie’s shoulder.

“Did you finally see that your bird pal is alright?” Maria asked the symbiote with a smile.

“We did,” Venom replied softly.

“Venom, is there something else you want to say to Maria?” Eddie prompted.

“Yes. We are sorry for eating you alive.”

“You’re forgiven. Plus you’re fun to talk to,” she said to Venom.

“And we thank you for introducing us to Eddie.”

Maria let out a soft laugh at that. “You’re welcome,” she replied, eyeing the black symbiote and his host.

Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. “We should really thank Dr Skirth, too. I just hope there’s a way to help her stay alive,” he stated.

“Pinion said Skirth is alive. Lasher protects her host,” Venom explained.

“I’ll leave you to it. See you guys around,” Maria said with a wave.

On the other side of the recovery ward, Frina sat between Marsail and Eddie on a visitor bench. Pinion perched on her host’s head as a kestrel, but did not mind shoulder-blob Venom occasionally staring at her.

“So now Skirth has one up her ass, too,” Eddie began.

“If that’s how you wanna phrase it every time,” Pinion exclaimed.

“Pinion and I talked to Lasher, sort of – but we couldn’t reach Skirth yet,” Frina spoke, returning them to the concern at hand.

“The sooner we can wake her up, the better. Then again, to wake her, we need to understand Lasher. It might be the key to forcing her to make a decision,” Marsail said.

“We know as much as Pinion does. Lasher is a dedicated scout, willing to sacrifice herself for the wellbeing of our kind,” Venom reiterated.

“How does Lasher feel about children, or some equivalent of them?” Frina asked.

“Lasher uses ‘she/her’ pronouns, but she’s not a bearer. That doesn’t stop her from safeguarding young symbiotes – not that danger often comes,” Pinion replied.

“Does Lasher feel the same way about Skirth’s kids?” Eddie wondered.

“Probably.” Frina got up and approached Skirth’s bed.

“What are you doing?”

Pinion melted from her kestrel form and went to cover Frina’s right arm. “We want to tell her that you and Venom are here. We can’t ask anything of them yet, so we’ll give information,” Frina answered Eddie.

She and Pinion touched the skin of Skirth’s forearm.

_Carlton and security men with guns. Pinion pushing Riot’s head away from Eddie. Pinion slapping Venom. Eddie parting with Anne. Eddie having his vitals checked while Carlton and Frina watch. Maria recovering. Eddie and Marsail sitting with Frina, hoping Skirth will be alright._

_“So… there you go. Just some stuff we thought you should know,” Pinion said with a shrug._

Frina pulled her hand away calmly, but then Skirth’s hand shot up, rising as if to follow the hand that held her earlier.

Marsail flinched back in surprise.

“Uh… Skirth?” Eddie called out.

The comatose host’s hand fell back onto the hospital bed. Frina, hand wrapped in Pinion again, went to touch Skirth’s hand – but this time Skirth and Lasher are saying nothing.

“Well, that was creepy,” Frina remarked, stepping back to rejoin Marsail and Eddie on the bench.

None of them know that someone is watching live surveillance footage of the recovery wards on a tablet, and is soon drafting communications with Dora Skirth’s emergency contact.


	6. Lay Your Fear On The Line

A team of scientists took Frina and Eddie’s blood pressure and made some other notes on the general state of the symbiote hosts’ health first thing on Sunday morning.

“When do I get to do that part of health exam where you make me run on a treadmill? Also, where’s the gym in this place, if you have one?” Frina asked groggily.

“The stress test will be conducted tomorrow when your body is more adjusted to the local time zone,” one scientist answered.

“There is a gym in the North Block. Do you plan on going there today?” Marsail said.

“My routines are for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,” Frina replied.

Eddie is a little less mouthy, but he’s not more welcoming of the scientists barging into his enclosure to take his readings either.

Once the majority of scientists left Frina and Eddie alone, the symbiote hosts showered. Marsail waits, and soon takes them to the cafeteria for breakfast. Maria (wearing clothes borrowed from Marsail now that she is their roommate) saved a table for the group there.

After the morning meal, the four humans got together in Frina’s room. Eddie borrows Frina’s computer while the Life Foundation is still in the process of requisitioning a personal computer for his room.

While Eddie caught up with the morning headlines on innumerable tabs, Marsail and Frina drew lines in a blank-paged book and coloured them in. Maria, meanwhile, appraised Frina’s bookshelf.

“These are all fantasy,” she commented.

“Not true. There’s a bunch of sci-fi, thrillers, even non-fiction as well,” Frina replied.

“It’s not a criticism. I’ve just never seen a collection like this – there’s a lot of titles I’m not familiar with.”

“That’s what happens when I buy from Malaysian bookstores. There are a few less well-known American writers, plus an Australian one.”

“This is boring,” Venom remarked of the news Eddie is making them read.

“Well, what do _you_ want to read, then?” Eddie asked with lazy annoyance.

“We want to watch videos, Eddie.”

Frina, Maria, Marsail, and even Pinion looked up to stare at Venom and Eddie.

“ _Dead By Daylight_ gameplay. It was fun for Pinion and her host, and we want to watch it, too,” Venom said.

Eddie looked over his shoulder and frowned at Frina and Pinion. “You birds are a bad influence.”

“I bet you won’t say so if we managed to convert Carlton into a gamer,” Pinion joked.

“Pinion, please,” Frina said. Maria is smiling, glancing at her and Pinion.

Eddie shook his head and pushed away from the computer on the table.

“D’you wanna surf the web next?” he asked Maria.

“Nah, I’m good on reality. But if this bird girl reads _this_ much fiction, I wonder how much TV she watches,” she replied.

“A lot.” Frina shrugged. “That’s why I don’t sound like a Malaysian anymore.”

She moved to reclaim her computer chair and closed the news-surfing browser windows. Maria watched as Frina opened two folders: Videos and Downloads.

“Here’s my digital library so far. I’m sorry this screen is so small and we only have a singular portable loudspeaker. I wish there’s a media room we can go to,” Frina said.

“Maybe we can ask Marcy later,” Maria replied.

Eddie sat on Frina’s bed next to Marsail while Frina gives some show recommendations, some of them for animated series. It feels nice to be here with people, talking about ordinary things like books and TV shows. He has spare time now, and he doesn’t have to worry about getting a job because the Life Foundation is covering his living expenses just like it covers Frina’s.

Having hobbies is a good distraction to let them forget that they are prisoners…

“Hey, Marsail?” Eddie asked.

“Yeah?”

“Is Drake still actively recruiting homeless or vulnerable people to unwillingly become symbiote host test subjects?”

Guilt drifted over Marsail’s face. A significant part of their job now is to keep the current symbiote hosts happy. Then again, they would rather not lie when some hard truths are so obvious.

“There is still one symbiote left in the research labs – the yellow one. Drake won’t stop the recruitment and experiments until the researchers find someone… or until that symbiote dies,” Marsail explained.

Frina gave her padded chair to Maria and sat on a stool instead. Their chatter (something about gay pirates and accurate sailing ship physics) did not completely reach Eddie’s ears.

“He’s letting Maria stay in my room at the employees’ quarters. When she was recovering, he had doctors planting a tracking chip so that the security guys know wherever she goes,” the researcher continued.

“What’s the price for her? I doubt Drake is giving her lodging and meals free of charge,” Eddie remarked.

Maria and Frina finally settled on watching Elementary. The two invited Eddie and Marsail to also watch; Marsail gestured to say they will be joining later.

“I was there when she woke up and the psychologists were evaluating her. Some suit-and-tie types relayed the three options Drake is giving her.”

“Three?” Eddie prompted.

“The first option is that she can become a test subject for the last symbiote, the yellow one. Second: she can find a job here at HQ.” Marsail shook their head. “The third option is for her to be deported, kicked out of the States.”

Fury built up slowly in Eddie’s chest. Carlton is always using people, and Maria is certainly no exception. It is through the promise of wealth that the man manipulates Frina’s parents, and it is the promise of money that lured Maria to the Life Foundation’s human experiments in the first place.

‘Eat the rich,’ Venom said.

Eddie recalled hearing that phrase long before he met Frina. He has read that line on social media sites, touted by bleeding hearts who throw verbal inferno at cronyism and other disgusting aspects of capitalism.

‘Not right now,’ Eddie told his symbiote.

* * *

Before Frina can double-click on Episode 5 of Elementary Season 1, Marsail’s phone rang. They stepped to a far side of the enclosure to speak.

The other three humans know they probably shouldn’t listen in, but there is little commotion in the room, and it seems Marsail is talking to Mr Drake, and the issue discussed involves Skirth.

“We’ll be there right away, Mr Drake,” Marsail said, ending the call.

“What does the big boss want?” Frina asked, standing up from her stool.

“He’s meeting with Tyler Skirth, Dora’s younger brother. Tyler arrived with Dora’s kids Cecilia and Joshua. Carlton didn’t tell them he’s the reason Dora is in the hospital bed right now, of course, but – he wants the family to be prepared for how she might turn out.”

Pinion opened her beak to make a self-deprecating jab about herself and Frina, but thought better of it and slumped on Frina’s shoulder.

“I’m going, too,” Maria said. “Dr Skirth saved my life.”

Eddie nodded. “I think she’d feel good about seeing you on your feet, yeah.”

At the recovery ward, Tyler, Cecilia, and Joshua are already waiting. Carlton is absent, probably off doing more important things than trying to explain to an employee’s family members how she entered her comatose state.

Marsail made the introductions: they are a colleague of Dora’s, Maria is an experiment subject whose life Dora saved, and Eddie and Frina are humans who have managed to bond with symbiotes.

“Symbiotes?” Tyler repeated.

“I don’t know if Mr Drake told you this, but symbiotes are a lot like angels from space. They can’t live on our planet, so they find humans to be their hosts,” Marsail explained.

“So, basically the humans are vessels for these ‘angels’?”

“That’s right.”

‘Dora’s bro apparently watches _Supernatural_ ,’ Frina thought to herself.

“What do these angels look like?” Joshua asked.

“I’m one,” Pinion spoke from Frina’s shoulder.

Marsail nodded at the two symbiote hosts.

Pinion took this cue to melt across Frina’s arms and over her head. Soon they look like a purple albatross wearing jeans and heeled sandals.

Joshua “oooh”ed while Cecilia giggled at the sight.

The giant bird nodded at Eddie, who sighed in response.

“Don’t freak out, okay guys? My space angel is sort of a… bodybuilder.”

Maria snorted. Marsail had to turn away to hide their laughter.

“Mask.”

“Copy.”

Venom surfaced to cover Eddie. Their combined form kneeled down to face the children.

Tyler placed his hands on the children’s shoulders. Oddly enough, the young ones are not really scared.

“Whoa,” Cecilia said.

“Are you friends with the Hulk?” Joshua asked.

Venom paused. “Eddie knows of him,” he spoke, and soon returned into Eddie’s frame.

Pinion also sank back into Frina, with the exception of a medium bird’s mass that shapes itself into a barn owl.

“This is impressive and all, but what does this have to do with Dora?” Tyler demanded.

Marsail glanced down, then answered: “There was an accident involving an unbonded symbiote. It went to the nearest person, and in this case it was Dora. Most of the time, if a person isn’t a match for a symbiote, the symbiote leaves them.”

Maria and Eddie shared a glance. Either Marsail is loyal to Carlton’s lies, or they are as coerced as Dora and the rest of them.

“Does Mommy have a space angel?” Cecilia asked.

Marsail nodded. “The angel stayed in her body. She’s a perfect match for the angel, but the angel is – trying to make a tough choice. It wants to go back to its home planet with Dora, but at the same time, it sees how happy she is with her family.”

The children moved closer to Dora’s sickbed.

“Mom? Angel? Can you hear us?”

Frina glanced away. Her own parents rarely showed her affection. But here is Dora Skirth, doing her best as a single mom to raise two sweet kids – until Carlton set a symbiote on her and left her in a coma.

Watching Cecilia and Joshua try to talk to the unconscious Dora, Tyler adopted a less confrontational tone with Marsail.

“How did you know what the angel – what the symbiote wants? Can you talk to it?” he asked.

“Frina and her angel could talk to Dora and hers,” Marsail explained.

Dora’s children backed away from the bed.

“Can you let Mommy and the angel know we’re here?” Cecilia asked.

Frina inhaled and exhaled. She did not want to make any false promises.

“We’ll try,” she said.

She waved for Eddie to stand on the other side of Dora’s bed and get ready to contact her and Lasher through Venom. He nodded and stood ready as instructed.

Pinion moved to cover Frina’s left hand. Together they touch Dora’s left forearm, trying to reach her and Lasher.

_Tyler is here. The kids are here. Carlton let them through to see you, Dora._

There was no response.

Frina opened her eyes and looked at Eddie.

“What’d she say?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she replied. “I think it’s time to try something new: you and Venom try to reach out as well.”

He nodded twice. Venom went to cover his right hand like a slick glove. He and Venom touched a less crowded part of Dora’s right forearm. Frina and Pinion resumed their attempts to contact Dora and Lasher.

_“Hey, uh, Dr Skirth? Lasher? It’s us,” Eddie used words instead of images._

_Frina pinched the bridge of her nose in the blue-tinged void._

_In the shape of a rock dove, Pinion pointed at a badly-drawn image of Riot and Carlton, presumably done by Frina’s hand at one point. The next slide shows “WHAT ARE THEY UP TO?”, and after that “?????”._

_Without looking at each other, Pinion and Venom executed a short handshake known only to them. The presentation slide shows Riot and Carlton again, then an equal sign, and then “NO-TRUST ZONE”._

_“Oh, so if you use text, then it’s okay,” Eddie said to the symbiotes._

_Frina faced the audience of the presentation slides and made a “come here” gesture familiar to her favourite horror-survival game. Pinion stood beside her and imitated the motion. Even Venom is joining in, and soon Eddie does, too._

_The dark blue blob is still not responding. Dora is not visible within the undefined shape._

_Frina raised her arms in exasperation, her face temporarily replaced by a frowning emoji._

_Pinion transformed into a plump chicken and went to peck at the blob._

_The blue symbiote is not budging._

_Venom loomed over the blue symbiote. Now he and Pinion are positioned exactly like their hosts in relation to Lasher and hers._

_The sense of kneeling, the sight of curious young Joshua and Cecilia. The smell of Cecilia’s hair, smell of something Joshua had for breakfast._

_Black liquid flowed toward Joshua, purple toward Cecilia._

“Don’t you _dare_!”

The symbiotes’ mental connection broke when Dora’s forearms are moved by her sitting bolt upright. In the next heartbeat, her hands shot to grasp Frina and Eddie by their throats.

Cecilia screamed.

Blue liquid covered Dora’s irises.

_Pinion, wearing medieval armour, points a sword at the drawing of Riot and Carlton._

_Now the visiting symbiotes and hosts can see Dora and Lasher standing arm-in-arm. Lasher responded in the image of shields moving in front of Dora as well as images of Cecilia and Joshua._

_Venom made a hand-over-heart gesture. Pinion followed suit._

Dora’s hands released Eddie’s and Frina’s necks. She closed her eyes to wipe her face with both palms. When she opened them again, her irises are back to their normal brown.

“I’m alive,” Dora croaked, almost in disbelief.

Frina stepped aside to get out of the way of the family reunion. Eddie moved away as well, and the two hosts went to stand with Maria and Marsail.

“Mom!” “Mommy!” “Oh, Dora, thank God.”

Dora smiled at her children, her hand holding their little palms and fingers.

Seeing the patient struggling to speak, Marsail went to get a paper cup of water for her.

Barely a minute passed before the footsteps of expensive shoes drew near their part of the recovery ward.

“Now that’s just incredible, isn’t it?” Carlton announced, clapping his hands.

Dora did not let go of her children’s hands, but levelled a bitter glare at the man. If it affected him, he did not let it show.

“You knew they’re able to do wake Dora. I shouldn’t have doubted you,” Tyler said.

“I said this is _one_ of the possible outcomes. Fortunately, it’s one of the better ones,” Carlton explained.

Dora accepted the cup of room-temperature water from Marsail. She slowly sipped at the water, swallowed, and then cleared her throat.

“I’d like to have some time with my family, please,” she spoke.

“In a moment; there are matters of paramount importance I have to discuss with you.”

Marsail led Maria, Tyler, and the children out of the ward. Soon the section is clear of people except four hosts and their respective symbiotes.

Pinion perched on Frina’s head as a little egret. Venom covered Eddie’s left arm. Even Lasher is visible on Dora as a scarf around her neck.

Riot did not surface on Carlton, though. The self-proclaimed visionary began pacing in front of his three supposed underlings.

“As you’re all aware, you are exceptional – candidates that managed to fit through the filter, pioneers of a world that no humans have ever treaded on before.”

He smiled.

“You are the leading success stories of the perfect bond between humans and symbiotes.”

“So are you, bitch,” Frina interjected.

Carlton maintained his mask of civility, giving Pinion’s host a wolfish smile.

“The researchers, lab technicians, and I have put forth ideas on what types of experiments involving you will yield results. You will find the schedule shared with you in the bonded symbiote experiment group chat.”

“I – don’t have a phone right now,” Eddie said.

“And mine doesn’t work in the States,” Frina added.

Carlton pulled an array of items out of the right inside pocket of his blazer and passed them to Frina. They are a micro-SIM card, a keycard with the Life Foundation logo on it, and three hundred dollars. He retrieved a similar set of items from his left inside pocket, except there is a low-budget smartphone accompanying the new SIM card for Eddie.

“Dr Skirth is already an employee of this company, so she already has those essentials. Now, I assure all three of you: you’ll still be granted a degree of freedom, but that privilege can disappear if you are found trying to leak sensitive stories to the public.”

He eyed each of the symbiote hosts under his care in turn.

“You are trade secrets of the Life Foundation; we cannot afford to lose you.”

“Great. Now get lost so that I can talk with my family,” Dora told him.

* * *

Marsail and Maria used a trolley to move food from the cafeteria to the recovery ward. It is lunchtime and it would be good if the Skirth family are able to share this mealtime together.

While waiting for her plate of village fried rice to cool down, Frina placed the new micro-SIM in her current phone. The small-cut SIM card contained contact numbers for Eddie, Dora, Marsail, and apparently Maria as well. To her further surprise, there is also a contact named “CD”.

‘Do you think Eddie and Maria have this number as well? I mean, Dora might have his number, but the others…’

‘D’you figure Carl wants you to send him nudes?’ Pinion mused.

Frina pressed the lock button and put her dual-SIM phone away.

‘I’d rather send him photos of me in the gym. Show him I can kick his ass.’

“So Maria – Marsail told me about your current options. Do you have a time limit to make your decision?” Eddie asked.

“The bosses gave me until the coming Friday to decide.” She shrugged, stirring her bowl of noodle soup. “Though I’m starting to think working here won’t be so bad. Marcy is a great roommate, and if I stay here, I can probably keep you out of trouble.”

Eddie grinned at her. “You’d do that for me?”

Maria laughed softly. “For you and Venom – and also the birds and blues,” she added.

After the group had their lunch at the headquarters cafeteria, they went back to the ward. The trolley has been cleared away, and Dora has recently changed into fresher clothes. The medical personnel will sign her out and discharge her soon.

Marsail, Maria, Frina, and Eddie waved goodbye while Tyler drove Dora, Cecilia, and Joshua out of the front open-air parking space. Dora returned the gesture before winding the window back up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's title is a reference to Demon Hunter's song "Wake".  
> Now that the foundation is laid out, slice-of-life ramblings may come up next. Though in truth, the main reason I'm providing this Peaceful Circumstances context is to establish the background for another work. Specifically one inspired by [biooote3](https://twitter.com/biooote3)'s [art](https://twitter.com/biooote3/status/1059464803142365187) on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/biooote3/status/1065277606205972480).)

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a sort of backstory or foundation for future symbiote and host-farming activities.  
> Depending on audience reception, Carlton's continued attempts to embarrass Frina may or may not continue.


End file.
